JOHN EAST, a member of the occupation committee, reports from Redland College of Education in Bristol.
Right from the outset we decided to ise the occupation as an organ ising base and focus for activity. The occ upation got off to a good start when the college porter-a shop steward for the T&GWU-also spoke in favour of it.
Within hours we had drawn up plans to send all available students out in flying squads to schools, other colleges and places of work. The points we wanted to get over were:
The facts about the extent of the cuts and unemployment. * The fact that we don't regand ourselves. as a special case. We're fighting all cuts and all unemployment. * The need to centralise action and informacon locally mrougn a naison commit tee in order to start placing demands on the local authority, such as: "Here are some unemployed teachers, here we have established definite shortages ... we demand you employ these people.
Within 24 hours we had organised a public meeting attended by over 60 people from a dozen different unions. On the first day we also visited over 30 schools, and now teachers and parents are beginning to phone in information As a result of these initiatives, requests for speakers to address meetings are now flowing in from schools, the social services department of the local authority, Avonmouth Smelter, Rolls-Royce, BAC, and the hospital shop stewards committees. We must now try to build up the liaison committee elected to coordinate the occupying colleges' action into a body which can really organise and initiate local action and mobilise for national action, by drawing in delegates from all sections of the labour movement. North West